Ben Hogan’s 1957 book, “Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf” is considered by many professionals to be the ‘bible of golf instruction’.
Unsurprisingly the book is divided into … you guessed it … five lessons! The first four lessons look at different fundamentals of the golf swing including the grip, stance and posture, the backswing, and the downswing. The final lesson is a review. Despite being published over sixty years ago many modern professionals and ‘golf gurus’ believe the teachings are still relevant today. Certainly, every average golfer can benefit from understanding the basic principles Ben Hogan outlines.
As ground-breaking as his book was, today I want to write about something else. Anyone familiar with Mr Hogan knows he delivered several famous sound bites. His most famous quote was when someone asked him for the secret to golf and he replied, “the secret is in the dirt”.
Let’s have a look at five alternative lessons the average golfer can learn from famous Ben Hogan quotes.
Number 1 -“The most important shot in golf is the next one.”
The importance of staying in the moment. In other words, you want to avoid thinking about the shots you’ve already hit or the next hole (or what beer you’re going to order in the clubhouse after the round).
Let’s paint a mental picture. Imagine you’re standing on the tee of a challenging hole. Think about the hardest tee shot of your home course. You have a driver or long iron in your hand. Perhaps you’re on cloud nine because of the bunker shot you just holed for birdie on the last. Alternatively, maybe you’re ready to snap your club in half because you just three-putted from five feet. No matter which scenario you’re thinking of, you’re not focusing on the shot in front of you.
Whatever happened is finished and dwelling on the past or getting ahead of yourself means you’re not focused on the next shot. When you lose focus, mistakes are made which result in bad things happening to you and your little white ball.
Whenever you feel your mind wandering … slow down. Take a couple of deep breaths, close your eyes, and relax for a few seconds. Now open your eyes, focus on your next swing thought and make that the centre of your attention.
Number 2 – “This is a game of misses. The guy who misses the best is going to win.”
I am sure you have heard an updated version of this one, it goes like this:
“It’s not how good your good shots are, it’s how good your bad shots are.”
I will not waste your time stressing the obvious. We all know a golfer with a better swing usually has to deal with less costly mishits. But improving your swing mechanics is a long-term goal and no matter how great an article is, I doubt you’ll make any massive technical improvements in ten minutes of reading. Let’s focus on a relevant lesson that can benefit you right now – golf course management.
Apart from a few low single figure handicap golfers, practically every amateur I have played with has terrible course management. Most play the straightest line to the flag irrespective of what danger lies in their path. Before hitting any shot, stop long enough to ask yourself some questions.
- Where is the dead zone i.e. the absolute worst place I can miss?
- If I have to miss, where would be the least damaging?
- What are the realistic odds of me making the shot I’m attempting?
- If I attempt this shot and miss, where will I probably end up?
A golfer is lucky to hit two or three perfect shots each round. The rest of the time they’re making do with shots that didn’t go exactly according to plan. Therefore, start thinking about potential misses before they happen and play to minimise damage. After all, the sad truth is that we hit more misses than anything else.
Number 3 – “The ultimate judge of your swing is the flight of the ball.”
To put it another way, the best swing is the swing that works. Golfers often get too caught up with how they think a swing should look or how a shot should be played when it’s where the ball ends up that really matters.
One lesson to take away from this is to play to your own strengths and work on improving your score rather than aiming for the “perfect swing” or fancy shots for the imaginary TV cameras. A consistent swing that doesn’t look pretty but scores well is better than never knowing what to expect because you can’t stop tinkering or trying something overly elaborate.
An immediate lesson you can take to the course this weekend is to think about the end result and forget what you think looks good (or what a PGA Tour pro would do).
For example, many amateur golfers want to hit a high pitch shot that bounces once and stops dead by the flag (like they see the pros do). The high pitch is a great shot as flying the ball to the hole minimises the effects of chance e.g. a bad bounce sending it the wrong way. However, this only applies if you have practised the shot … a lot. If you haven’t practised the shot, you’re just as likely to thin the ball through the green or hit a shot so fat that it progresses all of two yards to the hole. The average golfer would be better off hitting a low chip shot with a 9 iron thus removing the risk of completely messing up the shot.
Step 4 – “The average golfer’s problem is not so much the lack of ability as it is lack of knowledge about what he should be doing.”
Ben is saying that most golfers simply don’t know the correct technique, golf course strategy or even the best way to practise. Therefore, to improve, they must learn these things. Makes sense so far.
I’d like to add another condition to his statement. The average golfer lacks knowledge of what he should be doing individually. Let me explain. Go to YouTube and type in “cure my slice”, you’ll get a million different answers, some contradicting each other.
There are many reasons why a golfer slices the ball. A few are more common but there are endless chains of cause and effect. However, there is likely only one root cause why you as an individual slice the ball. This is what you need to understand. The best lesson to take from this quote is to go see a qualified golf professional and get lessons.
Even the best players in the world take golf lessons. I guarantee whoever is ranked number one in the world as of the moment you’re reading this article (Dustin Johnson at the time of writing) is taking golf lessons from somebody. If you want to get better, why wouldn’t you do the same?
I must sound like I’m contradicting myself here. I’m saying everyone should learn as much as possible about golf but I’m also saying “ignore instructional videos on YouTube”. To clarify, I am NOT saying ignore the online instructional videos, golf books and articles like this one (see what I did there). I think all these resources are incredibly beneficial … especially the articles (ok I’ll stop now). However, these resources are not enough alone.
When it comes to the technique of the full swing most golfers are not aware of what they’re doing. They think they are aware but they are not. I nominate myself as the number one example. I have been playing golf since I was five years old, I am now in my early 30s. Aside from when injured I never stopped playing golf, I somehow played to a scholarship level at university, I read all the books, I watched all the videos BUT when I see my golf coach for a lesson, he still points out stuff I never realised I was doing.
It’s the same for me, Jack, Arnold, Gary, Tiger, Rory, all the rest, and you. We all need some guidance.
Number 5 -“If you can’t outplay them, outwork them.”
The message here is similar to the quote from the start of this article, “the secret is in the dirt”.
If you have worked harder than your opponent, you clearly have an advantage. In an interview about how he practises Tiger Woods talks about deriving confidence from working hard. He knows that if he’s put in the effort, he’ll have the confidence of knowing that he’s practised every shot before. If you know you have trained harder and longer than your opponent it gives you a psychological edge before you start.
It doesn’t have to mean beating balls on the range for hours like Tiger Woods. The extra work could be as simple as arriving at the course early to get a feel of the greens or doing some stretches the night before to loosen yourself up. This doesn’t only apply to when you play a competitive match against someone. Even when you have no opponent besides old man par, the extra effort you put in can be the difference between an enjoyable day and a miserable round of frustration.
I hope you will take something positive from these timeless lessons. If you’d like to be first to read our latest articles or you want me to send you a link to the video I mentioned of Tiger explaining how he practises, please sign-up to our mailing list below. No spam, just interesting and helpful golf articles.